UFC.com added the matchup to its confirmed list of fights earlier today.

Mir, the UFC’s former heavyweight champion, and Hardonk actually were scheduled to first meet at UFC Fight Night 9 in February, but Mir had to pull out of the fight with a shoulder injury.

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) spoke to Mir’s manager, Dean Albrechtm, earlier this week. While he was tight-lipped about the fight date, he did confirm that Mir had returned to training and that his shoulder was doing well.

“We found an excellent doctor who has been able to help out many of the (UFC) fighters with outstanding results,” Albrecht said.

When healthy, the well-rounded Mir can be one of the sport’s most dangerous fighters. However, that’s rarely been the case since a life-changing accident three years ago.

Mir was seriously injured in a devastating motorcycle accident three months after winning the UFC’s heavyweight belt in 2004. He broke his femur bone in two places and tore numerous tendons in and around knee when a car T-boned him. Mir didnâ??t fight for 16 months while he nursed his injuries, and his return to the Octagon hasn’t been successful thus far.

He returned to action in February 2006 and suffered a TKO loss to Marcio Cruz. In his next bout, he had gained noticeable weight and won a sluggish and lackluster unanimous decision over Dan Christison at UFC 61. Four months after that, he suffered a quick first-round TKO loss to Brandon Vera at UFC 65. He hasn’t fought a professional MMA bout since.

Now apparently healthy, though, Mir — a Las Vegas native with a huge fan following — will look to return to get back into title contention against a famed kickboxer from Holland.

Hardonk most recently dropped a decision to Mir’s eventual replacement — Justin McCully — back in April at UFC Fight Night 9. Prior to the loss, the 31-year-old scored a first-round knockout of Sherman Pendergarst at UFC 65.

UFC 74 takes place at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. The main event features UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture vs. rising contender Gabriel Gonzaga. The UFC has also confirmed that former welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre will fight Koscheck in a fight that guarantees the winner a title shot in 2008.

A total of 26 fighters got their chance to shine on Saturday as part of UFC 190 at Rio de Janeiro’s HSBC Arena. Now that UFC 190 is in the books, it’s time to commence MMAjunkie’s “Three Stars” ceremony.

The man known for cranking submissions to the point of injury added eye-gouging to his repertoire. But is the controversy of Rousimar Palhares too essential to his bizarre, awful appeal for his employers to take any meaningful action against him?